The Elder Barr Blog

Thanks for the great email. It was good to be able to hear from everybody. I really appreciate it. I will try to send some pictures as soon as I can. My digital camera batteries don’t charge, so my companion takes pictures and I get doubles. I might get a few disposables to tide me over.

Things are going great here. We are having a lot of great success. I love this area and my companion, and I hope there aren’t any changes and that I can go smoothly home. President Searle said that the missionary department approved my release date, so everything is all set. Have you heard from the UW? Hopefully they let me back.

Anyway, we met a great guy named E____, who is a young guy who just converted to Catholicism. He is trying to become more religious, and he said that he felt cheated that he wasn’t raised with any particular religion. Anyway, he went to church. We had one of our members pick him up. He stayed for all 3 hours. Afterwards, the member who gave him a ride, who is Haitian and has a big family, invited him over for lunch. We were also going there for lunch, and it was nice to see E____ there too. And, we found out that E____ can really eat a lot. Our member was sure to tell him that this was the best rice and beans he could ever eat. It is funny. People from the islands are really proud of their cooking. We have a 10 y.o. Trinidadian member who said, “You haven’t tasted curry until you have tasted our curry".

We also had a really great meeting with this young family, F____ and H______, and their young son. We talked to F____ in front of Wal-Mart a few weeks ago, and we finally were able to get an appointment with them. The appointment was wonderful. They were both very open minded about everything. I really like them.

We also met with this other family. Guyanese/African-American. They are really cool. We mentioned on the 1st lesson that the eventual goal is baptism for herself and her family, and she agreed. This is the council that we recieved yesterday in zone conference, and it was nice to be able to apply it that same evening.

So, things are going great. I don’t have any complaints. It hasn’t got cold yet, but I am sure it will. It is quite nice actually. About 65 degrees, and partly-cloudy, partly-sunny. It is great. We have been working in some good places. The days seem to go quickly. Which is nice considering the count down. We had an exchange yesterday, and I realized that my time on the mission was longer than the combined time of the other 3 missionaries in the apartment. It was just interesting to be in that situation. There are some great new Elders and Sisters in the mission. General conference is coming up, and I am excited for that. It is great to truly be able to tell people that Prophets and Apostles are going to speak, and they have an opportunity to listen.

Dad, I am glad that things went well in your travels. It is nice to hear about new technology. I am excited to be back in that world. Right now I am on a computer in a Mexican store, using AOL on Windows 98. Not exactly the latest. But it still works and plus they are cooking a nice plate of rice and tortillas right now. Now the question is, will my return preceed the 1 TB drive? I think it will come down to the wire…or the gigabyte.

Mom, I am glad that you have been able to show some more houses. Please let me know if you decide to move. When you tell people that it is Scottie’s old house, you should use some old Star Trek quotes. I have all the movies in my room, unless Andy ebay-ed them. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your job and that it isn’t eating up too much of your Sunday time. Also, I think it is a really good idea to find a car for Andy. Buses aren’t good. Too many “different” people. That is one thing I have really become synical/sensitive to is the trustworthiness of random people. It is important to be very careful. I was thinking about it all week actually. Try to find a Volvo all-wheel-drive. They are built like tanks and are good in the snow/rain. Or maybe a small truck or something.

Tina, I am glad EHS is going great. Keep up the good work. I can’t believe you will have a permit soon. Bianca, it was nice to hear from you and your workouts. I should do more of those. Grace, thanks for the email. That is a funny trick you did. I hope school is going well.

Alright I need to go. I love you all so much. This church is true. Don’t forget it.

Love,
your son or brother, depending on who you are,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

P.S. 36 waist, 16/34-35,

Thanks for the great email. I would have love to have heard from Tina too, but I bet she was busy with high-school stuff.

First of all I am sorry to hear about Maggie. She has had this problem for a long time. I think what you need to do is purchase an electric training collar. It is a shock collar controlled by remote control, and she should have that on her at all times, and when she goes on walks and gets out of hand, that will stop her very effectively. So, I think that that could be an effective solution. I hope we get this worked out soon.

So, the week has been great. Although, there has a problem that has been developing over the last few months, that came to fruition today. It has been a problem that I have been dealing with for quite a while, but the mission has made it worse. I am not sure what to do about it, but today I realized that it is serious. It is my hair . It has decided to relocate. Hairs that were once on the top of my head have found new territory on my face, nasal passage, and back. One the front line, the left and right sides are starting to etreat, with the center holding strong. The crown of my head is starting to thin too. I gave myself a haircut today, and I am afraid if I give myself any more haircuts, my hair will just give up and stop growing all-together. I suppose it is part of growing up. What was once thick now is thin. And to make things worse, some hairs are out of uniform. nderneath the dark black is gray. That’s right. They are starting to appear.

Other than my hair, things have been great. A lady that we have been working with came to church on Sunday, and she really liked it. We had the opportunity to go to her church, and it was fun. The style was very different than ours. Anyway, the first and second hours were good, and we went with her to RS. The lesson was “Temples and Family History". Imagine learning about that for the first time. It was a lot for her. Wewent to her house the next day, and she had a good list of questions. It was fun. I think she will visit again.

We have been having some great discussions with a Catholic guy named M___. He has been very nice to us, and we have good discussions. He isn’t planning to convert, but it is interesting to see the similarities and differences that are present in our various faiths.

The money situation is going okay. There is enough for groceries today and next week, but I will need some more by next week. I had a sore throat this morning, so I am going to use some of my personal funds to buy some tea’s. It is getting cold. Halloween is around the corner, and Christmas isn’t too much farther than that.

I hope everything is going well for you. Mom, be careful what you do for other agents. Be choosy in what you go. Many risks aren’t worth taking.

One thing about Orange county that they don’t tell you on Orange County Choppers, is that there are A LOT of crazy people around. Lots. Especially here. There are a lot of psychiatric and criminally-insane institutions, and it is sad to hear some of the stories about this part of society. So, just be careful. The same goes to everybody. Better safe
than sorry.

I love all of you so much. Please be careful in all that you do. Thank you for everything. I love you all.

Love, your son or brother
Elder Stephen J. Barr

Thanks for the great email. It is such a pleasure to be able to hear from you on a weekly basis.

First of all, Mom, I am so sorry that you had to do that for me, in regards to the bank. I am sorry. It is hard. I am trying to live within a budget but it is just very difficult when it is quite limited and you can’t do anything to make in increase (aka work more hours, etc). I’ll do the best I can to not eat into any of that money that you put in.

So, there were a lot of good things that happened this week. One of the first ones, it was about 8pm, and we were trying to find something to do. We decided to drop by the home of a recent convert, only to find that his wife had just miscarried earlier that day. The bishop and HPGL were on their way. We were able to participate in giving her a blessing. It was nice that we were able to be in the right place at the right time.

On Friday to Saturday I did an overnight split in Newburgh. That is a really different city. Not very nice. Anyway, we didn’t spend a lot of time there, but went to nearby Washingtonville, which was nice. We did some tracting there and found some great people. This was the zone leaders area, and they are both good missionaries.

On Saturday we were also able to help a lady in the ward move. She is moving up north a few hours, to get away from this area and start again. She has had a rough year or so, including divorce. So, it was nice to send her off in good spirits to her new home.

We met with this Catholic guy that we met while tracting. He is really nice, but isn’t planning on any kind of conversion. It is very evident from our first meeting with him that he views religion very differently from the way we do. He is suspicious of leaders, and I think that deep down he sees the whole thing as a fantastic story that builds character but isn’t really true. I think a lot of people see it that way. It is sad.

The other day we met a guy who was an Atheist, but he tried to be the best person he could, and said it was part of the humanist philosophy. He couldn’t prove the existence of God with the scientific method, and had thoughts of that nature. It can be hard, since God isn’t subject to the empirical tests that science has to offer. The tests are more spiritual. But, things weren’t real enough to him, and he tried to explain things away through biology. Anyway, my thoughts were that even if one were a good person for the sake of society, eventually the betterment of society would not be a suffieciently powerful motivation to be a good person and make morally correct choicies. It is such an interesting world. I told him that he is better than most people, who are still stuck in a world of pleasure-seeking, but that faith could still play an important part in his life, and that you do not need to turn a blind eye to science in order to accept religion. It was a good discussion.

We had a great lunch with the Bishop and his family on Sunday. They are all from Texas, and they made this delicious beef brisquit. It was really good. Homemade apple pie was a great dessert.

A few nights ago we had a meeting with one of our favorite families, W____ and his wife. He had just sent his oldest daughter to college, and was a little down about that. She is in Westchester county, so not too far away, but it isn’t the same as being at home. Anyway, he is one of those guys who loves the church, but just can’t get himself to go in the font quite yet. He doesn’t have too many doctrinal hold ups; he just hasn’t seen a need to join the church yet. Those are the hardest, the people where their life is really a good life, and they are great people and trying to live a good Christian life, and they are blessed for their efforts. So, you really have to get down to the details to show them whey they should be baptized. Anyway, they are great. I will introduce you to them when we visit the mission.

On the same day as the split, my companion and the other Elder found a great family. The husband is a retired navy medic and the wife is a nurse. They are great. We have an appointment tomorrow. We will see how that plays out. I am optimistic for them.

We had a great appointment with a member family last night. They are all Italian. He is an RN and went down to the city on Sept. 11th, and has some interesting stories to tell.

So, everything is going great. The apartment is good. The work is fun. The hardest time to fill is the morning time, because nobody is home and this isn’t really a bustling community with people walking the streets. We are going to try to see if we can get a booth or something in a good location.

Alright, I will try to write some letters and get them sent off today. I wrote some last week but I never got around to sending them, so I will send those as well. I will try to be more on top of things in that nature.

Dad I hope your trip goes well. Mom, good luck with everything as the school year gets going. Andy, please be careful and always use your best judgement. Tina, I didn’t have any of those teachers, but I am glad that you are excited for them. Bianca, I did have some of those teachers, Lund, Clay, and Blair. Grace, I am glad that you are happy with everything right now.

I miss you all very much and I am very excited for the time to pass quickly and I am awaiting a wonderful reunion in a few short months.

Love,
your son or brother,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

Thanks for the great email. I am glad that you all had such a great time and Cabos. It is good to hear about all of that.

Things are going very well here. It is the end of the month so resources are low, but some members gave us a $20 gift card to wal-mart so that got some of the groceries this week. I love the missionary life, but the poor part can be hard sometimes.

The work is going great. This week has been really rainy. Also, it is getting colder so the suit coats are coming back on. It is nice, but it is hard to keep them maintained in the rain. It is too hot for the coat. So, I borrowed an umbrella but it broke. So, I’ll have to get one sometime soon. It isn’t raining today so that is nice.

So Ron wrote me. I will write him back today. He insists that he come to visit me. I checked with President Searle and he said that that wouldn’t work. So, I’m not sure what to tell him.

We have this great investigator from Haiti that we are working with. Last Sunday we had a great meeting with him, talking about the apostasy. He is coming from a Catholic background, so he is having trouble with that. He also has trouble accepting that God has a physical body, but the real issue is just the Book of Mormon. Once he reads it more thoroughly all the things will iron out. His wife cooked us a great meal. Rice with lima beans, chicken, fried plantain, a good salad. Haitian’s eat pretty well. So do Dominican’s, who come from the same island.

So, I’m glad that Cabos was nice. It is so interesting watching everyone get ready for school. Pretty soon it will be Halloween. Then Thanksgiving. Then Christmas.

Speaking of that, President Searle approved my return date. I know that that will be here soon. August is gone. Sept. is short. So, it will be a short couple of months.

Andy, about football. I think that if you are doing other things, they will probably be more beneficial to you than football. I had fun with it for a year. You have experienced football for a few seasons now. I think it may be time to do other things. I did it for the experience, but it took a lot of time, consumed every weekend and weekday, and it can be overwhelming year after year. Of course the choice is yours but honestly you have a great mind and it will be worth developing your intellectual talents. It is a dead end for 99% of high schoolers anyway, so it really isn’t a great investment of time if the goal is to make a future of it. So, that is my advice. Spend time developing your intellectual pursuits and that will probably be of more worth to you.

Tina, I am glad that you also had a good time and Cabos. It is exciting to hear about the new things happening in your life and it will be fun to catch up again.

Bianca, I am eating healthy. I do read your letters. I look forward to them. I make some good food the other day, and we have also been getting good food from members/investigators.

Grace, I miss you too. I know that the time will continue to pass quickly. Keep doing your best in everyting, and always be careful. I know that you will continue to do great.

Mom & Dad, It is so nice to that everyone got home from Cabos safe and sound. I am excited to visit that place again. Oh, I have some information about my account. I think I may have overdrawn it by accident. We went shopping with the money you gave me, and I noticed it was a few dollars over. So, I transferred the money that same day. A few days later, I used the card for a $2 purchase, and that tipped it and I forgot to do a transfer. It was overdrawn by $11, so I put in $14. That would leave $3. Now, the other day, I was really hungry and we didn’t have time to go back home. So, I checked and I still had, what I thought, was $10 on the mission card. So, I got eat, and to pay, and the mission card is decline. So, I am forced to pay with my card. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money in the account, which I new ahead of time. So, I called the office and asked one of the Senior missionaries to put $10 in my personal account, since there is a wa-mu near the mission office, but not one in orange county. She did that, but I think they still hit me with charges. I am so sorry about that. I hate doing that. I am really trying to stay under budget. It is hard though. I do miss having an income .

Alright, I am glad to hear that everybody is doing well. Please take care and be careful everybody. And keep doing the family prayer and scripture study and home evening. That is so important. The world is not a nice place, and we need all the spiritual armor that we can get.

I love you all so much and I am excited for this work. I keep you all in my prayers, and I know and feel that you are praying for me.

Love,
Your son or brother,
Elder Stephen J. Barr

Thanks for the great email. I am glad you are all having fun in Mexico. Just remember to be safe and stick together. And don’t do anything crazy.

Things are going great in Middletown. Transfers came and went, and Elder Peterson and I are together, which is what I was hoping and praying for. He is a great companion and I really enjoy working with him. He is really maturing as a missionary and he is really trying his best to be as effective as possible.

This week has been good. We have found some less-active and part-member families that were off the record, and then want us to work with them so that will be fun. We have this nice lady S_____ with whom we have been meeting. She is a born-again Christian, and she has a lot of good questions about LDS doctrine. We had a great meeting with a Haitian member family. They cooked some great Haitian food for us. Rice, pork, salad, etc.

Last night we met with a great member family from Trinidad. They are also wonderful and we had a good meal and a fun time with them. We had moderate success tracting yesterday. We found one Catholic guy who said he would read the pamphlet and give it some consideration. We also have some media referrals that should go well.

Tonight we have a meeting with a great couple. The husband especially really likes us. He left home at 15, and was taken in by a LDS man in California, and he worked there for a long time. He acknowledges that this man and the teachings of the Church really shaped his life for the better, although he never joined. We are going to visit him tonight to watch a church video and have dinner. Afterwards, we have a meeting with the ward mission leader. He just send his son BJ on a mission to Texas. He talked last Sunday in Sacrament meeting, and it was really good.

We did some work with another less-active family the other day. They all came to church last Sunday, and they want to get back into church. They had just fallen out of the routine for a few months, with having a new baby and some other things that they had to deal with, but they are back and I think that they will return to full activity.

So, the work has been going well. No complaints. It is a great area. By the way, President Seale said that the date specified in January will work fine. So, I think that things are all set. I want to work towards getting into the computer science department, and I think that in order to do that I need to retake physics and improve my GPA in that area. So, I could retake the physics where my GPA is lowest, and also a chemistry class, and maybe linear algebra. How does that sound? I am excited for the UW. I think that that will be fun.

Maybe for work I could do something for Syndic8, so I could do it from home and have some flexibility as to hours. I think that working at msft and going to UW was too much, and my grades suffered. I’m not sure what else there is to do in terms of preparations. Maybe a decent outfit or two, so that I don’t have to go to school in a worn-out suit.

Speaking of that, money is doing well. I am going to do a little dry cleaning today, but that should be the last that I need to do. I just need to clean my suit once before winter. I have been trying to wear the washable pants as much as possible, and only wear the suit when absolutely necessary. I think it will last. I am going to get some new black socks today, because I am out of matched pairs. So, that is what I am doing with some of the money you sent. I really appreciate that by the way.

Alright, I should get going. I love you all so much. Please stick together and be safe. Don’t go in unsafe waters.

I will write some thank-you notes today. I feel bad for procrastinating those notes. I will get that taken care of. Thank you for reminding me. Also, could you ask Uncle Raul about David. I haven’t heard from/about him in a very long time.

Anyway, I need to go. I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Stephen J. Barr